Honorees announced for Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade

Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade organizers have announced the community members set to be honored during the 55th annual parade this year.

Following its cancellation in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parade is scheduled to make its return to the streets of Laguna Beach on March 5.

Andrew Barnicle, who served as artistic director of the Laguna Playhouse from 1991 to 2010, highlights the list as grand marshal of the parade.

“It’s the peak of my career, seriously,” Barnicle said of his time as director. “It’s the most important work that I did in theater was at the Laguna Playhouse. …I’ve only been working there sporadically in the last 10 years, directed a few shows and acted in a few shows, but the 19 years that I was there as artistic director were the biggest years of my professional life, that’s for sure. I’m honored. I think it’s wonderful.

“Laguna is a really cool place. It’s just a really tight-knit community. It’s got all the big-city pleasures without the big-city hassles. A small town with a big heart.”

The playhouse is celebrating its 101st anniversary as a home for the performing arts.

“I think it’s a remarkable addition to the community,” Barnicle said of the playhouse. “They play to 100,000 people a year, which means an awful lot of folks coming into town and having dinner and shopping and doing other things, in terms of economics.

“Also, to have a world-class professional theater in a town that small is quite an honor in it of itself for the city of Laguna. They don’t have to go to Los Angeles to see a professional theater, or even to South Coast Repertory Theater. They can do it right in their own backyard.”

Rick Conkey, who is the head coach of the boys’ and girls’ tennis programs at Laguna Beach High School, is being recognized as the Athlete of the Year. The Laguna Beach girls’ tennis team advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals this season, falling to La Cañada on games 83-73.

The tennis journey for Conkey includes earning a scholarship to the World Junior Tennis Academy and working at the Jack Kramer Club, where he helped train a young Pete Sampras.

While he played at a high level himself, Conkey considers himself a coach first, but he said he felt honored to be among the parade’s honorees. Asked if he would take his teams with him in a car or on a float on the parade route if he could, he did not hesitate in his response.

“Absolutely,” Conkey said. “The girls are just amazing, … the girls and the guys. I [coach] both teams, and they’re both just phenomenal, and a lot of the people that I coach here in town, as well.

Conkey offered some words of wisdom that can be applied to not only tennis, but other aspects of life.

“As a human, I know one thing and that is that we’re not perfect, but it’s a lot more fun to reach for the stars, and if you’re reaching or dreaming for an idealistic target, even if you miss, it’s going to be closer if you keep aiming for that target,” he said. “You’re going to get better at it.”

Marine veteran Bill Sandlin will be the Honored Patriot, Laguna Beach Live founder Cindy Prewitt the Citizen of the Year, and Laguna Beach High School seniors Morgan Zevnik and William Coffey the Junior Citizens of the Year.

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